Galbijjim in Daegu

Last night was my last Saturday night in Daegu, so I went out with some friends for dinner and to Billibow. Very fitting to have Galbijjim at the very first place that I tried it, in east Samdeok, near Kyungpook Hospital. This was the same restaurant that inspired the name of the site, as at that time, Galbijjim embodied my love affair of Korean food, which embodied my love affair of Korea, as a whole.

The site was going to be a community portal with a slant on food and restaurants, but it since has grown from that. Only now, after we’ve added thousands of articles, forums, job site, blogs, etc…have I began to return to the grassroots with a renewed focus on restaurants and food.

While I was in the east Samdeok area, I took the time to walk amongst the streets that I first called home upon arriving in Korea. Walking past my first hagwon, my first apartment building. Looking inside the windows of the restaurants that I used to frequent, to notice that the same mom-and-pop owners are still cooking day in and day out. Daegu doesn’t change much, for the most part, and I’m grateful for that. It always instills a sense of comfort that even in a huge, growing city of 3 million+ people, you can always come back and feel just as at home as you did 6 years ago. Seoul, on the other hand, is quite different. Last month, I walked through Apgujeong and realized that our restaurant articles for the area are outdated, as many places have closed. Sinchon, Hongdae, and Itaewon are no different. Really hard to stay on top of everything.

Daegu will always be underrated, as one can find almost all of what you would ever need as you would if in Seoul, but things don’t change at the breakneck speed of the northern metropolis.